 "Photo: WaroftheWorlds.com")
Despite Hollywood's best efforts to find the next box office draw, there are only a select few actors who can virtually guarantee a box office hit on name recognition alone. Tom Cruise, arguably the biggest movie star of today, stands on top of the heap.
He is part of the elite class of actors whose movies have not only drawn big money, but have also become a part of pop culture. His next film, War of the Worlds, promises more of the same, bridging the gap between popular appeal and artistic achievement.
It also happens to be directed by the most famous director in the world, Steven Spielberg, and costars Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, and Miranda Otto (recently seen in Lord of the Rings).
Though one of the richest and most popular movie stars of all time, Cruise is also known as a genuinely nice guy (surprising for Hollywood royalty, huh?).
Cruise participated in a college conference call last week to promote War of the Worlds. During the 45-minute discussion, Cruise discussed all sorts of topics, ranging from his blue-collar upbringing to Mission Impossible:3.
When asked why he chose to do War of the Worlds, Cruise explained that after completing Minority Report, he and Spielberg sat down and went over a list of three potential future projects that they could work on. Almost immediately, Cruise chose War of the Worlds, calling it the "best first draft I have ever read."
Based on H.G. Wells' famous novel, Cruise says this film is not another simple adaptation or remake (of the previous 1953 film). He calls it an "interpretation of an original piece" that is set in modern times and will be told in a way that is both unique and different than past versions.
In the past, the story was reinterpreted by Orson Welles in a radio play. Welles' production caused a panic when some listeners failed to realize that what they were hearing was fictional, and started to panic, thinking that the country was really being invaded by aliens.
Ironically, with an approved budget of approximately $130 million, Cruise feels that this is the "smallest, biggest film" that he's ever done.
In other words, though War of the Worlds is a large-scale picture by its nature, the film is told in a very intimate way, with an emphasis placed on examining the personal lives of the characters, just like in Spielberg's E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Cruise thinks that the film will not disappoint and that audiences will be able to establish an emotional attachment to the characters.
Another topic discussed was whether or not Cruise would ever do a full-fledged comedy, rather than a dramedy like Jerry Maguire. Cruise thinks that the comedies that most appeal to him are those with a dramatic arc to it with unique, developed characters.
He doesn't see himself doing any other type of comedy. One of his favorite comedies from the past year is Napoleon Dynamite.
When the topic of Mission Impossible 3 came up, Cruise said that it will be released in the summer of 2006. He said viewers should expect an "epic action picture" with a better story than the first two.
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